The consequences of Google requiring developer certification to install Android applications, even outside of Google’s own Play Store, are starting to reverberate. F-Droid, probably the single most popular non-Google application repository for Android, has made it very clear that Google’s upcoming requirement is most likely going to mean the end of F-Droid. It’s dark times for the smartphone world right now, especially if you care about consumer rights and open source. Releasing the Android source code as soon as something hit end-user devices was a goal. Like any operating system, Android is far from perfect, but it was remarkable just how open it used to be.